Project Proposal

The brief

An examination on the development of 'the home' in the Western Isles

What can be assumed about inhabitants by the exterior of a dwelling place

do these structures show how Hebridean ways of living have changed and developed over time?

The methodological considerations

photograph multiple dwelling places from multiple era's, use techniques discussed in class

analyse what can be said about the inhabitants from the shots

equipment needs

camera- phone

- actual camera

computer to upload data -laptop

place to record research- blog

sample considerations

Blackhouses - Garenin

                           shawbost

ancient  -broch

-ruins

19th C buildings -Balemartin

20th C buildings -detached houses

-schemes

21st C buildings -kit houses

-new builds

ethical issues to be considered

private property

awareness that owners might not want their home photographed or displayed publicly

restraints and issues to be expected

Weather!!! can be too wet and windy to get out photographing 

Dominant Discourses and Further Research: A final Position Statement

Modernity and age

Aspects of modernity feature in most of the photographic data collected. Evidence of human progress and technology is prevalent throughout many of the images. The collective data shows the gradual development of human progression through the application of modernisation to buildings much older than the technology being applied and others where the technology is built in. Further research into this area of interest could continue to examine the effects of modernising older and ancient buildings, perhaps concluding positive and negative results from a variety of angles e.g., practical use, heritage , ethical issues, construction.

Modernity, Location and Rurality

On a wider scale, research could be made to discover the extent of which human progression is portrayed through technology on the home exterior. Perhaps it is regionalised or a specifically urban or rural occurrence?

Discourses

Discourse	Sub discourse
location	way of life adaptation place in the world
Climate	geographical position temperature fertility status mental well being
Farming - productive	animals crops labourers wellie boots
Human occupation	shelter love use
Neglect	sorrowful untended poor sadness
Ownership	Bourgeois worth power
age	time degrading ancient modern awesomeness
Sociality	friends family happiness community spirit
Modernity	technology busyness connectivity newness present reality upon timeless world
Public/ private	Possessions sub discourse bourgeois society
Rurality	open land far from civilisation farming hills small communities

Research progression table

Positives	negatives
Some data has been extracted	Finding time to travel to gather images
Data reflects some patterns in discourses	Suitable weather conditions for gathering images
Modernity of home exterior possibly a key theme to focus research on	What to make of the extracted data?
Mind mapping discourses worked well	couldn't upload mind map had to convert into table

Housing Shemes, Carloway

Gead Gorm and Uraghag 

Concept/theme	Interpretation	Discourse
Group of clustered houses -	small community	Rurality
fence posts -	live stock in the area	Public/ private
open landscape -	rural area	Rurality
stretching clouds -	over cast day	Climate
Bright green grass -	fertile land	Farming - productive
Tarmac road -	cars in use	Modernity

So after seeing the amazing shots the local photographers were getting of the Aurora I decided to have a bash at my own. There were many black, dark, empty shots initially but then (i'm guessing there were many more folk out there with black pictures as well) one of the photographers on his Facebook page posted an instructions list for setting your camera correctly to pick up the amazing activity of the lights in the sky. 

After much struggling and giving up I finally managed to locate the instructed settings and attempted to produce my own 'stunning' Aurora shots.

The first problem I discovered whilst trying to get a fantastic picture was that I couldn't actually see what I was capturing. I was having to snap rather blindly which lead to some rather interesting (or poor/annoying) compositions.

The second problem I encountered was that I lack the ability to hold my hands still for the amount of time required to capture these images. Lacking a tripod I had to just hold my breath for about a minute at a time it felt and just hope that I would get something that looked good. In this image you can see the star trails and the rather lightning blur of a street lamp as well as the muffled outlines of the fence posts. BUT there is an incredibly bright green area of sky above the houses that I am exceptionally proud of!!

This one, I didn't manage to keep very still at all but the green is still clearly there!!!!

This time I attempted to see if i could replicate the professionals shot of his house under the aurora. As you can see I failed! I did though manage to capture some nice stars and the faint glow of the lights down on the horizon. 

This image has the potential to be amazing. I have managed to get a much larger spectrum of the lights flowing across the horizon. Unfortunately whilst trying to avoid the rather annoying streetlamp that was ruining the whole scene I only managed to include a rather ugly corner of my house in the picture. And then there is the blurriness again. If we ignore the negatives though it is a very nice green line!!

Aurora over Lewis house

I know I know slightly distracted from the project but this is so amazing it has to be shared!

The Aurora on Tuesday night (8th Oct) over the photographers house.

Kareen's house after storm in Lewis

Pictures donated by Kareen for speculation (and amusement) 

 Storm hit house, Carloway, Isle of Lewis

Concept/theme	Interpretation	Discourse
Landscape	Rough terrain, hills	Rurality
Oil tank	Central heating	Modernity
Bleak sky	Dreary day	Climate
Chimneys	Fuel fires installed	Modernity perhaps??
Large house	Family home	Sociality
3 dustbins	Rubbish/recycling	Modernity/postmodernity
Stains on walls	Weathered	Climate/age
Shed	Storage	Possesions
Fallen chimney and missing tiles	Breezy!! location	climate

 Storm hit house, Carloway, Isle of Lewis 

 Storm hit house, Carloway, Isle of Lewis

Tiree House

Greenhill, Isle of Tiree

Concept/theme	Interpretation	Discourse
Rough foreground, reeds, flowers	Machair landscape	Rurality
Sea (background)	Close to sea	location
Tarmac road	Cars in use	Modernity
Gates and hedging	Garden	Private/public
size	Family home	Sociality
Snow semmed walls	Maintained	Ownership
Stains on walls	Weathered	Climate/age
Moss on roof	Not regularly maintained	Neglect
Chimneys	Fires in house	Modernity?
Storm windows	Rough weather	climate

Greenhill, Isle of Tiree

• Concept/theme	Interpretation	Discourse
  Car	Occupation	Ownership
  Hedge and grass	Well maintained	Ownership

Greenhill, Isle of Tiree

• Concept/theme	Interpretation	Discourse
  Porch door	Entrance	Human occupation
  Discoloured extension	Affected by elements more, prominent	climate

Greenhill, Isle of Tiree

Black House Villiage, Garenin, Isle of Lewis

several houses - community

sea - coastal loacation

Stone walls & thatched roof - Black house

Black house - history, old, the past

Modern double glazed window - refurbished? in use?

Grass & moss on roof - natural

chimney -fires inside

stone work - un even shaped stones cleverly assembled to make building

Lewis Houses

Unused island house decorated for 'Katie Morag' production set, Tolsta Chaolais, Isle of Lewis

• Isle of Struay sign - location is Isle of Struay (FYI it's a  fictional island)
• Post office signs and letter box on wall - building is a post office
• green paint - slightly eccentric owners?? building designed to be eye catching
• Snow sem - looked after
• gravel path lined with stones - well maintained
• storm windows - rough weather
• slates roof - not exceptionally old, roof maintained well
• figures in doorway - some significance of the building to the figures, souvenir??
• figures wearing coats - cool climate
• lace curtains - old fashioned homeliness

Iron age Broch, Doune, Carloway, Isle of Lewis

• curvature of the stones - round shaped building
• large sections missing - no longer a dwelling place
• neat rows of bricks used to build - intelligent constructors
• low openings - lived in by small folk?
• figures in middle opening - easily accessible to get too
• figures small and hard to make out - scale of structure is large